Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament was born as Helena Kowalska, in Glogowiec, Leczyca County, north-west of Lódz in Poland on August 25, 1905.
In 1924, Faustina experienced her first vision of Jesus. While at a dance with her sister, Natalia, Faustina saw a suffering Jesus and then went to a Cathedral. According to Faustina, Jesus instructed her to leave for Warsaw immediately and join a convent. On February 22, 1931, Faustina was visited by Jesus, who presented himself as the “King of Divine Mercy” wearing a white garment with red and pale rays coming from his heart. She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of God’s mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing God’s plan of mercy for the world.
On October 5, 1938, Sister Faustina (Helen Kowalska) died in a convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland.
St. Faustina is my patroness. It was in one of the darkest moments of my life in which I met her. My daughter lay in an ICU on a ventilator after suffering respiratory failure on Friday February 11, 2012. That was the culmination of a what had been a horrible night for me. Earlier that evening my faith in God, my months of prayers for healing seeming to come to failure this day with her seizure. I no longer trusted God and His promises of healing for her. It was at 3:00 AM, kneeling beside my daughter’s bed that Jesus introduced this saint to me. It was at my lowest point and a time where my trust was least that she came into me life.
St. Faustina led me back to God and taught me how to trust in Jesus at a depth I could not have imagined previously.
On September 30, 2019, while kneeling before her tomb in Krakow Poland that St. Faustina spoke to me. At that time I was praying intercessions for my daughter and family and giving praise to God for His gifts. I knew the voice was St. Faustina, she asked, “Will you accept me as your patroness and be an apostle of mercy upon earth?” It was only later that I realized she had spoken to me in her native polish – “Czy zaakceptujesz mnie jako swoją świętą patronkę i będziesz apostołem miłosierdzia na ziemi?”
I’ve never looked back!
“I feel certain that my mission will not come to an end upon my death, but will begin.” Divine Mercy in my soul # 281
Beautiful! Thank you Ed for your witness and vulnerability.